Next Week's Meal Plan: 5 Cookbook-Inspired Recipes

I keep meaning to write a cookbook PSA about the library, but this will have to suffice until then: Did you know that your library has a large cookbook selection? You can request new cookbooks, borrow them, try them out before you buy them. I started doing this last fall as a way to both keep my cookbook shelves tidier and to try out cookbooks before buying or gifting them for the holidays. Borrowing cookbooks from the library is now one of my favorite things.

This week's meal plan is inspired by cookbook recipes I'm trying out this week. Since the recipes aren't always available on the web, I'm linking here to similar recipes, but including a link to the cookbook I borrowed for inspiration.

Welcome to This Week's Meal Plan

Planning my weekly meals is a habit I enjoy. Since I'm frequently asked by friends and family what I'm cooking for dinner each week, I thought it'd be useful to share my weekly meal plan here. Whether you're just learning to meal plan and looking for a real-life example of how this works or you're an old pro on the hunt for inspiration, here's a peek at how I'm feeding my family this week.

Tuesday: Pasta con Ceci

A riff on this Roman dish in Colu Henry's Back Pocket Pasta had me immediately writing this recipe on my meal plan. It has many things that my children love (tiny pasta! Chickpeas! Parmesan!), but it's also made entirely from pantry staples. I've got some tomato paste in the freezer that needs using up too.

We covered Hugh Acheson's The Chef and the Slow Cooker on the site recently, and this recipe has been well-loved at our house. Happily this recipe is going to use up a bunch of ingredients that I have stashed in the freezer.

I'm not doing a Whole30 this year, but I loved reading Weekday, Weekend from the sisters at A Beautiful Mess. The idea is simple: Eat mostly whole foods and no sugar or dairy and then eat as you please on the weekend. This potato and sausage skillet is similar to one in the weekday section of their bright and cheery book.